The Pink Shoes
by Gigigal
Summary: Is being a princess all that it’s cracked up to be? A “not-so-fairy” fairy tale… Written for the Once Upon a Twilight contest.


**ONCE UPON A TWILIGHT CONTEST**

**Title: The Pink Shoes  
Author: Gigigal  
Rating: T  
POV: Third Person  
Word Count: 3,337  
Summary: Is being a princess all that it's cracked up to be? A "not-so-fairy" fairy tale… **

_**This story is being submitted as an entry for the Once Upon a Twilight Contest, hosted by wishimight and staceygirl aka jackbauer. For complete contest details, to read the rest of the contest submissions, or if you are interested in entering, please visit the contest community at:  
http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/community/Once_Upon_a_Twilight/72145/  
Entries accepted until 8/20/09  
Voting begins 8/22/09**_

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"…_You saw me when I was invisible." ~ The Princess Diaries_

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There once was a man who had to raise his daughter, Bella, all by himself. So far he had done a very fine job raising her, but as she grew into a young lady, he felt that she needed a mother. His wife had passed away soon after Bella's birth and he packed away all her belongings into three beautiful trunks, for the memories were too hard to bear.

After months of searching, the man finally found the perfect woman to be his daughter's stepmother. Victoria was beautiful, dignified, and rich. Plus she had a daughter of her own, Rosalie, who was Bella's age. Her father and Bella moved from their small house in California to Victoria's mansion in Forks, Washington. Yet soon after they arrived in the dreary town, her father caught pneumonia and died, leaving Bella alone with her new family.

Bella knew she did not belong in Forks. Even though her family was very well off, she did not have the same advantages as her stepsister. She did not dress like the other girls at school or carry around a Blackberry or an expensive purse. Her stepmother did not want to waste the spare bedrooms or the nice linens on Bella. She was forced to sleep in a tiny room on the third floor with the servants, while her stepsister had a large bedroom with a private bath and giant walk-in closet. When Rosalie turned sixteen, she was given a brand new red BMW, while Bella was given a new sweater. Her stepsister refused to let Bella get into her car, and as a result Bella was forced to take the school bus to school each day. At the end of the day, Bella could either go to the library or come home to begin studying and to help the servants with the chores, while Rosalie was allowed to be a cheerleader and go shopping after school. Rosalie made it a point to remind Bella about her differences several times a day.

Bella had inherited her beauty, both inside and out, from her mother. While her father had done a wonderful job cultivating her beauty on the inside, through books, music, and manners, her outward beauty was lacking. Bella had worn glasses since an early age and her braces did not add to her smile. Her hair was always pulled back into two braids, the only hairstyle her father had ever learned. Each day, he would braid her hair before school, until she was old enough to do it herself. Her clothes were plain and even when her braces were taken off, she was never given a second glance.

At school, Bella usually felt invisible, except for the rare occasions that Rosalie decided to speak to her. But then it was only to tease her or to ask to copy her homework. Bella was a smart girl; she easily made straight A's and worked well with her teachers. Yet, despite her good grades, she still longed for something more. At lunchtime, she often sat hidden from view and watched Rosalie and her friends. They had their own section of the cafeteria that was exclusively for them. From there they gossiped, teased and bragged and showed off their new designer clothes. Bella admired one of them in particular, Emmett. His father was a movie director and he had all the connections in town, making him the most popular boy in school. Emmett had dated Rosalie a few times and now she was convinced that she was going to marry him. Bella knew that Emmett would never even think about her but she couldn't help daydreaming about him

After school, while her stepsister was off trying to impress Emmett, Bella spent her afternoons studying at the library. She always sat in the same spot, spellbound by a book and ignorant of the world around her. Occasionally, she would notice a boy with messy hair, who watched her with a hidden smile. She thought she recognized him from her biology class but since she spent most of that class thinking about Emmett, she couldn't be sure.

At home, Bella spent most of her time on the third floor or the kitchen. There, she was able to confide in Esme, the housekeeper, without her stepmother or stepsister snooping. She would tell Esme about the day's events and her secrets, as she helped with dinner.

"The Homecoming Dance is coming up," Bella told her one afternoon.

"Oh, honey, that will be fun."

"If I go."

"Why wouldn't you go?"

"I don't know. No one has asked me and I doubt anyone would. There's nothing in my closet that would be appropriate for a dance, even if I knew how to dance! Plus, I doubt Victoria would ever let me go," Bella moaned.

"First of all, I'm sure you've caught someone's eye. Maybe they're just shy like you. And dancing is all in the leading- if he can dance, you can too. As for the rest, you never know until you ask, sweetheart. They can't keep you in this house forever. And I won't let you stay here on your own."

That evening at dinner, Rosalie was the one to first mention the dance. "Mother, I need a new dress."

"Yes, of course, darling! What is this one for?" Victoria stopped eating and looked at her daughter.

"The Homecoming Dance is this weekend!"

"Oh, wonderful! I saw the most fabulous dress yesterday in Port Angeles. It was pink and had—"

"Pink is for little girls, Mother," Rosalie interrupted her. "I need something sophisticated, a dress that nobody else has one like. I'm going to be named Homecoming Queen and I want everyone talking about my dress for weeks afterwards."

"Well, darling, we'll just go shopping and you can buy whatever dress your heart desires. We'll go into Seattle tomorrow, how does that sound?"

Rosalie flashed her perfect smile, happy to have gotten her way once again.

Esme came in to clear some of the dishes off the table. She eyed Bella expectantly. Reluctantly, Bella complied.

"Do you think that I could go get a new dress tomorrow, too?"

"Why would you possibly need a dress, Bella?" Victoria questioned. "You have plenty of them in your closet upstairs."

"I don't have any that I could wear to Homecoming," she said, looking down at the table.

Rosalie snorted. "Who would ever ask you to the dance? Even that nerd from bio wouldn't want to ask you," she laughed.

Quietly, Bella excused herself from the table, before the tears came. She hurried to her room, where she stayed the rest of the night. When Esme came to check on her, Bella promised her that she was fine and no longer wanted to go to the dance.

But Esme knew better and after she left Bella's room she went upstairs to the attic. In the back corner, covered in dust, were the three chests that arrived along with Bella and her father so many years ago. In the first, she found Bella's old baby clothes and toys. In the second chest, she found books and photo albums. She picked up one and leafed through the pages, stopping at one of a beautiful woman in a lovely pink dress. The woman was laughing and looking over her shoulder at the camera. Esme put the pictures aside and opened the last chest. Inside this one, under old clothes and tissue paper, she found a pink dress. She carefully took it out and inspected it. It was still in mint condition and she guessed it would fit Bella perfectly. A few additions to sparkle the dress up and Bella would shine in it. She took the dress, along with the picture of the woman wearing it, downstairs to her room and began to work.

Bella went through the rest of the week as usual. She went to school, read at the library, sat quietly though dinner and then retreated to her room. She didn't spend as much time with Esme as she normally did, but Esme seemed extra busy this week for some reason. When Friday came, Bella came home from school and went straight to her room. She did not want to watch Rosalie get ready for the dance. Instead, she crawled into bed and cried herself to sleep.

When she woke up, the blinds in her room were all closed and the room glowed with the flames of candles, placed around the room. Bella pulled the covers off and looked around the room. In the corner, hung the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. She jumped out of bed to see if it was real. The dress was pink and embellished with rhinestones. On the table next to the dress was a pair of pink Jimmy Choo stiletto high heels. In a velvet box next to the shoes, lay perfect diamond earrings, with a matching necklace. Bella quickly ran to find Esme to show her the wonderful things and found her waiting just outside the door.

Esme helped Bella get ready for the dance. She curled Bella's hair, until it fell in beautiful ringlets around her face. She used just the right amount of makeup to accentuate Bella's natural beauty. She made sure that everything was perfect for Bella, who could not believe it when she looked in the mirror.

"Esme, it's wonderful! Thank you so much!"

"Shh, honey, you can thank me later! You have a dance to go to!" She quietly led Bella down the back stairs and out the back door. There waiting for Bella was Victoria's prized Aston Martin. Bella looked at Esme, stunned.

"You want me to drive that to the dance? Won't Victoria know its gone?"

"Not if you get back before she does. The charity ball will be over at midnight, so you must be home before that."

Bella nodded, "Midnight. I can do that."

As she stepped into the car and began to drive away she heard Esme call out, "Have a spectacular time!"

As she pulled the car into the high school parking lot, she began to feel nervous. What if everybody made fun of her like they usually did? She knew she had to be brave and face her fears. She walked slowly into the school, looking at the ground. Her stiletto heels were not easy to walk in and she was afraid she'd fall. But somewhere she found some confidence and picked her head up and walked proudly into the dance.

She didn't notice everyone's eyes on her as she entered the gym. She wasn't aware of the boy on the bleachers, who was flustered at her presence but gathered the courage to approach her. Nor did she see Emmett stop talking to Rosalie and lean past her to look at the beautiful girl who had just walked in. Rosalie had been gossiping all night but quickly stopped when she noticed Emmett's attention was not focused on her. With a humph, she turned around to see what everyone was staring at.

"Who is that?" she snipped.

"I don't know," Emmett replied, "but I'm about to go find out."

"What? Where are you going?" she snarled, as he began to walk towards the mystery girl. "EMMETT!"

He stepped in front of another guy walking towards Bella and asked her to dance. He didn't ask her name or whom she came with. He simply danced with her all night. While in his arms, she tried to ignore the daggers that Rosalie was sending with her cold stare. She tried to forget that her feet were killing her and that Emmett kept stepping on them. She ignored her headache from the loud music. She tried to concentrate on Emmett but couldn't stand hearing him tell more stories about himself.

"You know," Emmett began, "I'm going to be named Homecoming King tonight and I'd like to name you my Queen."

"You would?" Bella asked dreamily, forgetting how annoyed she was at him.

"Yes, I would. But I can't announce you as the Queen if I don't know your name."

"My name?" Bella thought for a few seconds. Was she really that invisible in daily life or so unrecognizable tonight? "You don't know my name?"

But before he could answer, the music stopped and Emmett's name was announced as Homecoming King. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along to the front of the gym by the stage. He left her there while he went to accept his prize. As he began his speech, about the obvious winner of the title of Homecoming Queen, she noticed the clock over his right shoulder, 11:51. She had nine minutes to get home before Victoria did and noticed the car was gone. As Emmett reached his hand out to her to help her on stage, Bella turned and began to run.

The crowed parted for her as she rushed towards the door. She could hear whispering and footsteps following her. Just before she made it to her car, her heel broke. She shook the shoe off in frustration and hobbled as quickly as she could. Just as she got in the car, she heard, "Bella, wait!" From the window, she saw the boy from biology, holding her shoe, and Emmett quickly gaining ground as she sped off.

"Damn it! How did she get away?" Emmett growled. "Eddie, man, what's that? Did she leave me a clue?" He took the shoe away from the quiet boy and walked back into the dance.

Bella pulled into the driveway just seconds before her stepmother returned home. She quietly hurried up the stairs to her bedroom, where she hung her dress in the closet and hid her shoe under the bed. She examined the chests that Esme had brought into her room while she was gone, filled with pictures and memories of her mother. She picked up the one of her mother in the pink dress that she just took off and noticed her mother's hair in braids. Placing the picture next to her bed, she braided her wavy hair and quickly fell asleep, tired from a night of dancing in uncomfortable shoes.

The next morning at breakfast, Rosalie told the story of the mysterious girl at the dance. "People kept calling her a princess. They were making such a fuss about her. I guess she was pretty but not as pretty as I was last night. And Emmett tried to make her Homecoming Queen instead of me. But she ran away from him and broke her shoe- serves her right. Who runs away from the hottest guy at school and leaves her Jimmy Choo shoe in the parking lot? Can you believe it?! Emmett still wants her to be Homecoming Queen. He's going to announce it at the game today. He doesn't know her name but he knows he'll be able to tell who she is. But just in case, she has to bring the shoe's match to prove it was her."

Bella listened as her stepsister rambled on about her. As Rosalie left for the football game, Bella floated from the table back to her room. Homecoming Queen. She was going to be named Homecoming Queen at the football game. All she had to do was show Emmett her shoe.

She looked at herself in the mirror, glasses back in place and two braids resting on her shoulders. This was Bella, not the girl she became last night. Although she felt beautiful at the dance, she felt just as beautiful right now in her ripped jeans, t-shirt and cardigan. And her feet were a whole lot happier in flats. If she was going to be named Homecoming Queen, she was going to be crowned as Bella, as herself, not a princess.

It was just about halftime, when she arrived at the game. The bleachers were crowded with students, who had come to find out who this mystery girl was. Bella tried to find a place to sit but was jostled on the way up the stairs. Two hands steadied her and she looked into a smiling face, framed by messy hair.

"You okay there?" he asked her.

"I'm fine, thanks," she mumbled.

"It's crowded up here. But I think there's an extra seat over where I'm sitting if you'd like. Unless you're meeting up with someone else."

She watched as he glanced towards the field and then back at her. She grasped the shoe in her purse and then returned his smile, "Lead the way."

She followed him and then squeezed in beside him and his friends.

"I'm Edward, by the way. We have biology together."

She recognized him from the library as well. "I'm—"

"Bella," he interrupted. She eyed him carefully as he went on. "Bella Swan- loves to read in the library, drives like a speed demon in a ridiculously expensive car and likes pink shoes, although not for dancing."

"How do you know that?" she wondered aloud.

"You're not invisible to me."

Bella flushed and broke his gaze. She looked onto the field, where the two teams had gathered on their sides and Emmett was pacing without his helmet. She didn't want to be Homecoming Queen anymore. Not with that conceited Emmett, who didn't even know her name. And definitely not in those awful shoes.

Edward cleared his throat. "Um, so, do you want to get out of here? I'm just taking a guess here that football isn't really your thing and there's a great little coffee shop up the street."

As Emmett waited for his queen to arrive, Edward and Bella slipped out of the stadium. She almost thought to give Rosalie her shoe and let her claim to be the "princess" that arrived at the dance last night. But she didn't want to give Rosalie that satisfaction. Instead, she kept the shoe, along with her mother's picture, just in case she ever forgot who she was again.

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**Reviews are like new shoes- so exciting to open!**


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